Jessie Diggins' biggest fan may just be Mikaela Shiffrin
The alpine skiing star explained why Diggins is the American athlete she's most looking forward to watching at Beijing 2022.
Cross-Country Skiing
Jessie Diggins gained many fans after, along with team-mate Kikkan Randall, she won USA's first-ever gold medal in cross-country skiing at PyeongChang 2018.
None of her admirers get any bigger, in the context of the Winter Olympics at least, than alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin.
As both athletes get set to make their first appearances at Beijing 2022, Shiffrin was asked which Team USA athlete she was most looking forward to watching compete.
"I would want to see nordic," Shiffrin said. "I would want to see Jessie [Diggins] compete, especially after South Korea. And I watched her with my mom and my dad.
"We watched the 'Here comes Diggins. Here comes...' [Editor's note: Shiffrin is referring to NBC Sports commentator Chad Salmela's now-famous call on the moment]. We watched that together in our hotel room and my dad was...He nearly blew out of the building out of excitement.
"He loved cross-country skiing and loved nordic. He just loved sports in general. He was like, 'Do you even know what's going on here?' He was balling, yeah. And I was like, 'Dad, you are more excited about this than you are for me. And that's saying something.' So, yeah, [it would be Jessie the athlete I would like to watch and meet]."
Diggins will have the chance to win one of the first medals on offer at Beijing 2022 when she takes part in the women's 7.5km + 7.5km skiathlon on Saturday 5 February at 15:45 Beijing time.
Where to watch Jessie Diggins compete
From the Opening Ceremony to athlete action, here's where and how you can watch the Winter Games in your region via the Official Olympic Broadcast Partners.